


Ring

by Dellefox



Series: Pridecember 2020 [14]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, Aged-Up Character(s), Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Off-Grid AU, Prideshipping, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sappy Fluff, Seto being an absolute sap, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, YGOPridecember2020, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, altered character ages, spot the Star Trek reference, ygopridecember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellefox/pseuds/Dellefox
Summary: To celebrate their anniversary, Seto takes Atem back to an old, nostalgic place with plenty of surprises along the way, including one that will cement the life they've built together. AU. Prideshipping.For YGO Pridecember 2020.Prompt: Ring
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Series: Pridecember 2020 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037481
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	Ring

**Author's Note:**

> Diving back into the Off-Grid AU for this one! This is a one-shot. 
> 
> Context: In this timeline Atem and Seto dated in high school, fell apart, and went through a nasty breakup. They didn't speak for months. With Mai as a mediator, Atem continued to help take care of Mokuba because he didn't want his issues with Seto to cause irreparable damage to him. At some point Kaiba gets his act together, they get back together, and now here we are. 
> 
> Ages: 
> 
> Atem – 28  
> Seto – 30  
> Mokuba - 18

_December 2010_

It was a cold December evening at the Kaiba-Mutou homestead, and in the depths of the great house Atem was preparing for a very important evening.

He was nervous. While every anniversary always elicited excitement tonight felt _different._ The energy in the house felt electric today, as if something in the very atmosphere itself had started snapping. Planning anniversary celebrations was a task usually evenly divided between Seto and Atem, but this year Seto had asked to oversee all of the planning. 

An alarm on his phone caused Atem to snap out of his reverie. He checked the time and stepped up his pace, blending eyeshadow and applying black liner and mascara with practiced ease. He picked an array of gothic earrings, spiked bracelets, and a pendant as his accessories, but left his rings alone. “Don’t wear any tonight,” Seto had asked, and attempts at clarification had been immediately thwarted. Seto had also requested Atem not get him a gift, and remained equally elusive on his reasons.

He checked his appearance in the mirror one final time. He’d chosen a simple dark navy satin button-up shirt and slim-fitting black pants, so as not to compete with the accessories. He’d left the top two buttons undone to frame the pendant. Snow had been falling steadily for the last two days, so he traded his trademark cape for a much thicker, warmer black cloak. He readjusted the buckles of his Demonia boots and left his suite, heels thumping grandly on the polished wood floors.

The hallway lighting had been dimmed, he realized, and the wrought-iron light fixtures, made to resemble lanterns, were glowing warmly. The knot in his stomach tightened. Why was he so nervous?

Seto was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. His heart leapt as Atem descended, cloak fluttering gracefully behind him with every step. As he neared the base of the stairs Seto took Atem’s hand in his own and gave it a gentle kiss. He pulled Atem into a firm embrace and nuzzled his neck, and Atem moved them into a chaste kiss. They parted, and Seto trailed a hand down Atem’s cheek.

“Perfection,” he purred. He let his fingers weave into Atem’s platinum bangs.

“You overpraise me, Seto,” Atem replied.

“Nonsense. Everything about you is exquisite.” Seto unwound his fingers from Atem’s hair and pulled him into another kiss.

Atem broke the kiss this time, and he stood back to get a better look at his much taller boyfriend. Seto had chosen a long, sweeping navy coat with a black paisley print and a black button-down shirt underneath, slim black pants, and black boots loaded with silver buckles that ran up to mid-calf. While he kept accessories to a minimum, he did opt for faux gauges in his earlobes, and an ornate silver ring with a large sapphire. The card locket was tucked under his shirt tonight, and it now contained a photo of Atem along with an updated photo of Mokuba. 

“You look beautiful, Seto.”

“I…” Seto felt his cheeks warm. Over ten years of being together and he still felt pangs of awkwardness receiving compliments from his significant other. He swallowed. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Atem grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. “What’s the plan for this evening?” he asked.

“It’s a surprise,” Seto replied. He led Atem out of the house and to the car, still holding hands until the last possible moment, when Seto had to manually unlock the car. Atem gave Seto a confused look. “Did the keyless lock battery die?”

“Look at which car we’re taking.” Seto flashed his trademark smirk.

Atem stepped back, examined the vehicle, and lit up when he realized which one it was.

It was a black 2002 Nissan Skyline, Seto’s daily driver when they were in college. It was the car in which Atem learned to drive a stick shift, and the car in which Atem first voiced the idea of a more agrarian future years ago. Seto kept it out of nostalgia, and it ran just as beautifully now is it had when he first bought it.

“Feeling sentimental, are we?” Atem asked playfully. Seto unlocked the doors and they climbed in.

“It’s the most appropriate vehicle for the occasion,” Seto replied. They pulled out onto the road.

“Is reminiscing part of the surprise?”

“Perhaps.” The smirk returned.

“You can’t give me one small hint?”

“You won’t have to wait long. We’re almost there.”

Ten minutes later Seto pulled into the parking lot of a vista point and Atem realized exactly where they were going. They continued past the parking spots to an unpaved driveway at the end of the pavement, easily hidden by trees. It had been cleaned of snowfall, and fresh gravel had been laid to prevent tires from digging into the mud. They crept along the road about half a mile and into a large clearing. They were surrounded by thick trees and lush foliage. It was secluded, and well-protected. 

When they were much younger they would sneak out to the clearing when they needed privacy. Study sessions would dissolve into makeout sessions and later to other, more intimate things. They’d bask in the afterglow, talking and making tentative plans about their futures, or baring their souls and sharing their scars.

Tonight there were lights strung along the ground in the shape of a dueling field. They were powered by a nearby solar generator. For good measure, lights had been hung along the trees, along with LED lanterns. A pathway had been shoveled, and graveled. The trees had blocked much of the snowfall, but there was still a decent blanket of it, and it sparkled and glittered as it reflected the lights.

They stepped out of the car, and Atem stared at the scene in awe. Seto popped the trunk and pulled out their duel disks. These weren’t the new models that were currently being readied for release, but the original disks they battled with over a decade ago, the first major product Seto had designed after he successfully rebuilt his late stepfather’s company into a formidable gaming empire. Atem recalled Seto recently spending several evenings restoring their disks to near mint condition, and had written it off as a hobby. He was pleased to see he’d been mistaken.

An arm already sporting a duel disk snaked around his waist and a kiss was pressed warmly against his temple. Seto’s other hand held the second duel disk to Atem.

“What do you think?” Seto nestled his face into Atem’s soft hair.

“It’s gorgeous,” Atem breathed. He could feel tension wafting through the cold winter air, and crackling on his skin. “But…will we not get in trouble for trespassing? We were covert in our youth, but this _had_ to have caught someone’s attention.”

“It’s not trespassing if you own the property.”

Atem turned around and looked up at Seto. Blue eyes twinkled mischievously and a bright smile beamed in place of his usual smirk.

“When did you buy it!?” Atem asked.

“A few mo nths ago, when I bou-“ he stopped. “…when I bumped into a neighbor who happened to know it was for sale.”

Atem raised an eyebrow. Seto continued, undeterred.

“It’s a small plot, about seven acres. But it shares a property line with ours. So I bought it, and now we can come out here whenever we want.”

Atem gently took his duel disk and strapped it to his left arm. “Seto…”

Seto trailed the fingers of his right hand down Atem’s cheek. “I wanted to make sure it was preserved. We have too many memories of it for us to lose access to it. And the property has a house on it already. Mokuba could stay there when he comes home to visit, if he wants some privacy. Or perhaps we can move your grandfather here if he ever wishes to retire.”

Atem smiled. “You’ve outdone yourself this year.”

“Hardly.” He kissed Atem, and pulled him closer and brandished his duel disk.

“Are you ready to lose?” he purred.

Atem chuckled. “I’m ready to _win,_ my love.” Seto smiled at him again, and Atem saw a hint of nervousness in Seto’s eyes.

“Are you alright?” Atem asked. “You seem a bit anxious.”

“Anxious to get this duel started and defeat you,” Seto shot back playfully. “Don’t you dare hold back, Imzadi.”

Atem gasped in mock offense. “I would never!”

They shuffled each other’s decks and returned them to each other before taking their places on each end of the dueling arena. The air became thicker with…want? Longing? Atem couldn’t place it. He felt like he could reach out and pull pieces of the tension between them out of the air. This duel felt _important._ Something was riding on this, Seto had placed something in it, and he was determined to figure out what it was.

Seto went first, and kicked off a duel that was more loud, intense, and, spectacular than any of their prior face-offs. Seto had long since put his ego aside and as a result his strategy was terrifyingly precise and nearly flawless. Atem had to think quickly to counter him, narrowly avoiding complete wipeouts of his monsters while retaliating against Seto’s beloved dragons. Back and forth they danced, countering trap cards with other trap cards and regularly nullifying monster effects and spells. Neither could get in a decent amount of damage to life points, and so it took nearly two hours to whittle away each other’s life points down to less than 100. The physical exertion as they darted back and forth across their respective ends of the field had left them both quite warm and a bit sweaty. Seto removed his jacket after three turns, Atem lost his cloak after five.

Seto called his final attack and destroyed Atem’s Dark Magician, bringing his life points to Zero. But Atem had a trap card on the field that required Seto to sacrifice 100 life points to attack, and thus it ended in a draw. It was the first and only stalemate they’d ever had, after nearly fifteen years of dueling each other, with Atem taking a majority of the victories.

They threw their heads back and laughed. All of their ups and downs, their triumphs and defeats, losses and gains, every step they had taken had lead them to this. They’d done the work, both individually and together. Now they were truly, perfectly, evenly matched. It no longer mattered who was better. They had realized that years ago. 

The holographic dust particles settled when they powered off their duel disks. As Atem’s vision cleared, he stared at Seto across the field. He’d aged a bit since high school. His frame was not nearly as slim, but Atem liked it that way. He had been dangerously thin in high school and the intense muscle tone he’d gained his senior year could not offset it. Now he was at a healthy weight, and still just as physically strong, even if his abs weren’t nearly as defined. His babyface had strengthened into a rugged handsomeness that Atem never tired of looking at. His voice had matured into a slightly deeper, gravelly tone. His intellect was just as quick, just as sharp, if not more so now than when they were younger. Atem could keep up with ease.

A powerful wave of emotion seared through Atem as he watched Seto put his deck back into his duel disk, this man who Atem had once loathed as a bitter rival in his youth, who had now grown, fulfilled, and surpassed all the potential he’d seen so many years ago. This man, who was his equal in every possible form, who Atem loved passionately, madly, without limit. The man who loved him with equal ferocity. The man who, once he was steady on his own two feet, had remained unconditionally loyal to Atem, had been his support without complaint, who motivated him to always be better.

The tension had worked into a fever pitch. As Seto crossed the field, Atem could finally see it was _fear_ in his eyes that he’d been holding. But fear of what? Their days of instability were long behind them. They’d conquered that so long ago. But there was something else in those eyes, behind the fear. It was firm, determined, resolute.

It felt like an eternity passed before Seto was once again within Atem’s reach. He’d taken off his duel disk and he tapped on Atem’s. “There’s something else in your duel disk,” he said with only a barely detectable trace of apprehension. “You should open it.”

Atem lifted his arm and heard something rattle in the secondary storage compartment and wondered how he’d ever missed it. Nerves, perhaps? He popped open the lid, tilted his wrist, and something shiny fell out into his hand. He gasped.

It was a ring.

It was small compared to the statement rings Atem favored, but it was beautifully detailed. A round, perfectly cut moissanite adorned the center of a delicate, ornate white gold crown, set on a matching band. It shimmered beautifully in the light.

The significance of the evening crashed over him like a tidal wave as all the pieces clicked into place and everything began to make sense. _This_ was why tonight had felt so different from the rest. He could vaguely feel tears sliding down his face.

Seto gingerly took the ring from Atem and wove his fingers through soft, messy tresses, reaching down to brush away the wetness streaming freely down Atem’s cheek before cupping it with his palm. His wrapped his other arm firmly around Atem’s waist, still clutching the ring. He swallowed. He’d attempted to organize his thoughts earlier in the evening and compose something resembling a coherent speech, but now, in the moment, he wasn’t quite sure where to begin.

“Seto…” Atem’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Atem.”

Atem let out an audible sniffle. Seto took a deep breath.

“You are the only person on this earth who was able to put me in my place when I needed it the most. You saw straight though my arrogance, my anger, my ego. You broke through every barrier I put up because you saw the man that I could be when I was too hurt, blind, and bleeding to recognize it. And even when we _hated_ each other, after everything fell apart, and we couldn’t even be in the same room together, you continued to take care of Mokuba when he needed it. You never held it against him. You did everything you could to keep our hostility away from him because you valued his well-being as much as I did.” His voice began to waiver and he felt his eyes sting. He pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes and just _felt_ him.

“You showed me I was worth something, that I was better than my stepfather. You have cheered so loud for me at every accomplishment, every dueling victory, every company milestone. I wouldn’t have any of this without you by my side. Everything I am, everything I have, everything I have overcome is because of you. You had absolutely no reason to take me back and yet you chose to try again and you gave me patience and kindness while I sorted myself out. Even at my worst, you have loved me so completely.”

He realized at some point both of their faces were now wet. He didn’t care.

“You gave me hope, and happiness, and healing I never would have believed was possible. You are my equal, Atem, in every facet of life. You taught me what family truly is. You brought me into yours. You were right about us from day one. Our souls are intertwined. This runs too deep for just one life, and I could never dare to love anyone but you. If you’ll have me, I will spend the rest of my days defending what we’ve built together.”

He removed Atem’s duel disk, set it gently in the snow, and knelt before Atem with the ring. Atem covered his mouth and nose with both hands as quiet joyful sobs escaped, unable to be suppressed.

“Will you marry me?”

Atem inhaled a deep, hiccupping breath, took Seto’s hands in his, and looked deep into warm sapphire eyes.

“Without question.”

All at once he felt strong arms hoist him into the air and swing him around. He was pulled into a fiery kiss that warmed him to the tips of his toes and the tension that had clouded over them all evening shattered around them and fell away. Seto kissed him again and again and again and Atem felt dizzy and drunk and so ecstatic he could fly. Eventually he felt his feet hit the gravel. Seto took Atem’s left hand and slid the band onto his ring finger. He lifted Atem’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently. Atem yanked him back into another kiss, and held it until he ran out of breath. They pulled away and gently swept away tears from each other’s faces.

“So when you said you didn’t want a gift…” Atem asked.

“Your answer is the greatest gift you could have ever given me.”

Atem felt something cold and wet hit his face and he furrowed his brow in confusion. More cold, wet droplets continued to splash onto them. They looked up at the sky.

Rain.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Seto hissed.

They scrambled to cut the generator and haul it to the car. They’d worry about the lights tomorrow.

“This is why I don’t trust meteorologists,” Seto grumbled as he folded down the back seats of the car. With Atem’s help, the shoved the generator in, and laid coat and cloak on top. In seconds the rain had gone from light sprinkles to a downpour, carving holes and rivulets into the snow. They were soaked by the time they got into the car, and Atem cranked up the heater while Seto backed out of the driveway and into the parking lot.

“Dammit, so much for consummating the engagement in the car.” The size of the generator made in impossible for either seat to fully recline.

Atem placed a hand on Seto’s knee. “As long as we don’t get washed away into the lake, I’m happy. The bedroom’s warmer anyway.”

The light of the instrument panel caught Atem’s ring. It glimmered happily as Atem moved his hand around.

“It’s perfect,” he murmured.

“You’re perfect,” Seto responded.

“ _You’re_ perfect.” 

Seto parked the car and leaned across the gear shift to give Atem one more kiss before they headed home to celebrate.

**Author's Note:**

> YES I WENT THERE WITH THIS PROMPT xD 
> 
> Originally I was going to have Kaiba win the duel, but felt it would have more of an impact if it ended in a draw. 
> 
> I chose moissanite over diamonds because of their low impact on the environment (they are lab created) and also because of the corruption surrounding the diamond mining industry. Seto strikes me as someone who would want absolutely zero part in that, as does Atem. 
> 
> I'm so glad I was able to get this one out for Christmas! 
> 
> A big THANK YOU to everyone who's left kudos and comments on my work. It's been a blast writing these to melodramatic nerds again after a nearly two-decade absence from the fandom. 
> 
> As always, feedback welcomed and appreciated! <3


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